Hi All... Sorry this took a while. Here is a new chapter of 'Dan's Story' I hope you enjoy!

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Chapter Two: The New School

The next morning Dan stepped onto the bus, his face a careful mask of toughness. He inwardly scoffed, his face might be tough, but inwardly he was terrified. He hesitated by the front, looking down the Ile at all the faces watching him. He felt his heart sink as he saw the expressions on the faces. Distrust, fear, contempt. He should be used to it now, after almost a year of being with the Cowhands, but it still hurt him that the people wouldn't give him a chance. His attention was drawn to the very back, where three younger girls were sitting. The curly blond hair one was whispering, and Dan felt a flash of indignation as the girls giggled. He met the blond's eyes and gave his best steely eyed glare. He may not have heard what the girl said, but he wasn't born yesterday, he knew the gist of what she said. Mr. Maypenny, came on the bus behind him.

"Sit down."

Dan slumped into the seat, fighting a smirk, that morning Maypenny had told him about how he hated going into public, and had asked him to help him out, but he had no idea shoulders tensed when the bus began to fill with whispers, one particularly louder than the other,

"Where did he find that?"

Dan clenched his jaw, blinking a few times to get rid of the sting of shame away. When the bus pulled up to the school, Dan was the first one off. He moved to stand out of the way as he watched the kids and Mr. Maypenny climb out. He saw the three girls walk together towards the school, stealing glances at him, still whispering.

He sighed and followed Maypenny towards the school, towards more distrustful looks. Towards more whispers, and staring eyes.

The principal stood up from behind his desk, and reached over to shake Mr. Maypenny's hand.

" Never thought I'd see you in this position Mr. Maypenny."

Mr. Maypenny shrugged, shifting uncomfortably, and cleared his throat " Yes, well. I'd like you to meet Daniel Mangan. He's staying with me."

Dan clenched his jaw, keeping his face tough as the principal looked over at him, looking him over. The principal frowned, pinching his lips together, before finally nodded.

"Yes, I was told a bit about you. I'll have you know right now, this school does not tolerate trouble. You are to keep up good grades, be on time, no fighting, and no stealing any thing."

Dan swallowed, then gave a cocky grin, shifting his weight to on foot, and stuck his hands in his pockets. "That so?" He shifted his jaw, giving him a more bad boy look, "I thought this would be the perfect place to give out the good stuff."

The principal glared leaning forward, poking Dan in the chest "You try anything, and you'll be in here in a flash. Understood?"

Mr. Maypenny reached out, pulling Dan back, "Mr. Johnson. I will not have you talking to my ward like that. You will be polite, and not jump to conclusions."

The principal frowned again, before going to the door, calling someone into the office. He moved back towards the desk as a boy, about Dan's age came in, looking curiously around. His eyes stopped when they reached Dan, and he studied him for a moment silently before holding out his hand.

Dan sighed, rolling his eyes as he ignored the hand. Mart was only offering it out of duty, and he didn't want the boy to have to pretend to accept him, when in reality he was just like the others, not wanting anything to do with him. He looked closer at the boy, and smirked when he saw the resembles to the curly blond hair girl. They must be brother and sister, possibly even twins. Dan saw Mr. Maypenny frown out of the corner of his eye, and shrugged. He'd told him that it would be like this, but the old man had said that the people were nice people.

His first class was English, same as Mart, he and the blond hair boy slipped into the room just as the bell rang, drawing the eyes of everyone to him. Dan glared, eyes hard, as he covered up his discomfort by slumping In one of the seats in the back. He stared at the teacher as she introduced herself, and asked him his name. Dan compressed his lips, glaring as he growled

"Dan."

The teacher gave a nervous smile, and nodded her head, "It's good to have you Dan." She hesitated, and Dan sighed inwardly, getting out her question before she could.

"Yes I know how to read." His voice was biting, and this time he didn't need to try to hard to get the tough boy act across. The last time he had started a new school, just after his mother died, he was asked the same question. He clenched his jaw, why did every one who saw a pour person, or some one in a gang, think they were uneducated slobs?

The rest of the English class passed by with out event, with Dan sitting slumped at the desk. When the bell rang, Dan was on his feet, and heading out the door in a flash. He was waiting by the wall, studying the pictures hanging, as he waited for Mart, his guide. Suddenly Dan felt a hand on his elbow. Years of living on the street, and in bad homes, had Dan spinning around, grabbing blindly at the hand holding him. Mart's sudden exclamation brought Dan back to reality, and he quickly let go, and stalked away, unable to hid the look of embarrassment and fear. By the time Mart had caught up to Dan he had his tough face on again, and he turned to face the other boy.

"What do you want?" His voice shook a little, and he growled to hide it.

"Just thought I'd show you your next class before the bell rings. We don't have the same one."

Dan let out a breath, than glared, "Fine, just don't do that again."

Mart grinned, looking a bit wary "You don't have to worry about that."

The rest of the classes before lunch were just like in English. The girls looking at him with fear and scorn, the boys with a touch of respect for his toughness, but also with aloofness. When the bell rang, signalling the end of the last class before lunch, Dan stayed seated, watching as the kids surge for the door. As the day passed, Dan found himself getting more used to his tough act, and was searching for just the right amount of aditud.

Dan walked towards the lunch room, meeting up with Mart as the other boy exited his own class. Together they moved into the lunch room, and Mart led him towards a table, with a group of kids sitting around it. He glared as he saw the curly blond haired girl sitting with her friends, a raven haired one, and another one, who had honey coloured hair, along with a older dark haired boy.

Dan's back stiffened, his mask falling into place as he felt the eyes of almost everyone staring at him. He could tell that Mart was uncomfortable with the looks, but the other boy continued on, walking towards the table.

"Hi, family and such! This is Dan Mangan. Dan, here are some of the characters you'll have to put up with in Sleepyside High."

The older boy stood up, and reached out a hand "Hay Dan, I'm Brian, Mart's brother."

Dan forgot to keep the mask up for a moment, as Brian greeted him, he didn't trust him, Dan could see that by the way he glanced at the girls protectively, but at least he tried to hide it. He let a small smile escape "Hi." He slipped the mask back on as the two friends of the curly haired girl, greeted him, and nodded. Mart turned around, and nodded for him to follow. The two boys gathered their food, and then Mart led him towards a different table. He introduced Dan to the three occupants of the table and then moved off towards his friends. Dan almost felt a sense of relief as the other boy moved off, leaving him with the three strangers. At least he could build on his gang statistic with out the disapproving look of the curly haired girl.